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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

I am not vegan. I will never be vegan because I love steak - a lot!! However, while looking for a thin mint or samoa recipe, I came across Chef Chloe's website and discovered she won Cupcake Wars with a vegan cupcake recipe. And she had a recipe for vegan thin mints. I've been trying to be healthier lately, giving up carbonated beverages for Lent and eating at least 1 piece of fruit a day (gasp! I know, I have terrible eating habits). When I saw her Fluffy Coconut Cupcake recipe, I became Girl Scout cookie side-tracked had to give it a try.

FYI: the ingredients in this recipe are not cheap. I spent around $20 for all the stuff to make 16 cupcakes. That being said, the recipe was very easy to make. My icing seemed thick enough until I had spread it on the cupcakes and then it started drooping, so maybe next time I'll make it even thicker. I also toasted my coconut topping. Oh and the cupcakes themselves are very greasy in the papers, so be careful!

After all that work, I have to say. W.O.W!! Delicious! I'm not sure how "healthy" they are because of the coconut saturated fats, but they taste great, had a fabulous texture, and will be a nice treat every now and then. I will definitely make these again! I'm also looking forward to seeing what other recipes she has in her cookbook coming out soon, Chloe's Kitchen.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Last night I finished up another charity quilt top. When I lived in OKC, I was a member of my church quilt group and we made quilts for kids at the local children's hospital. I'm moved but I'm still active with the group and take the quilt tops back when I visit.

Awhile back, someone donated loads of fabric to the group but they were mostly the ornate, oriental and guilded fabric with gold and silver threads on everything. I didn't think they were very kid friendly, but when it's being donated, you have to make do with what you've been given!

I came across Camille Roskelley's Thimble Blossoms pattern called Coming Soon and decided that would be a fun arrangement for some of the fabrics I had acquired from the donated bunch. Here's what I came up with. I was going for a castle feel, but you have to see the fabric in person I think to really appreciate it.

The small rectangles inside the blocks are a fabric that looks like stained glass windows. The blocks are made out of several sky, water, and grass prints, along with a few playful horses galloping through the fields. As I was cutting this out, I thought I should make another one with fussy cut Castle Peeps as the small rectangles.

A note about this pattern - it was so super easy to make! I could have made this whole quilt in a day if I'd wanted. The directions were easy to follow and there are so many possibilities with this one. Don't be surprised if you see other variations in the future :)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

I finished my NYB center for the DMQG round robin just in time. I did decide to set it on point and am really happy I did so. Maybe I'll applique something onto the corners later on. Or maybe I'll leave it blank and enjoy the fresh clean design. I'm really thrilled with how it turned out! I won't be seeing it back for another 5 months and the anticipation may just kill me!

Oh and wouldn't you know that now there's a New York Beauty quilt along? Maybe I'm just ahead of the trend :)